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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Experimenting with enamel paints

On the bright side of today, I've figured out the proper way of utilizing enamel paints. Always have primer unless you want the paint to run a bit. The glossy appearance of enamel has some interesting applications. Let's start off by demonstrating.

If you note the gloves, they have a shine to them. By using enamel paint, I have turned modeling epoxy and cardstock into what appears to be rubber gloves. The fun note is that the hands were rubber to start with, and I used epoxy to flesh them out thicker and provide a means for the paint to stick. A decent layer, about less than half a millimeter, of epoxy was applied at the fingertips. The key is to use water to keep your fingers from sticking to the epoxy, and to smooth out the epoxy after you apply it to minimize the sanding. Generous amounts of epoxy at the wrist limit the wrist to turning, but made the shape transition better to the glove. The gauntlet part of the glove was done by 110 cardstock cone frustums, 13mm OD to 23mm OD expander tube spanning 22mm long. I made the cardstock at least 2 layers thick to retain stiffness. After some light sanding, a moderately half-assed coat of primer went on, accompanied by a set of tan and black enamel.

As for the figure itself, I'll formally introduce the Pyro once I finish his boots.